A trader wears a t-shirt with Reddit’s logo, at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 21, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped on Friday, but clinched its best week of the year after back-to-back record-setting sessions.
The Dow dipped 305.47 points, or 0.77%, to close at 39,475.90. The S&P 500 inched lower by 0.14% to end at 5,234.18. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.16% and closed at 16,428.82 for another record.
All three major averages notched healthy gains this week, with the S&P 500 rising about 2.3%. The Dow was up just shy of 2% for its best week since December. The Nasdaq is the outperformer of the three, jumping nearly 2.9%.
“It’s a digestion period after a really strong week,” said Truist’s co-chief investment officer Keith Lerner of Friday’s moves. “Our view is that the overall trend is still positive for the market, especially when you see this breakout of new highs, on track for your fifth consecutive month of gains.”
One reason for the market optimism stems from this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The central bank left rates unchanged, and commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell reinforced that cuts are coming despite a recent bout of hot inflation readings that led some investors to fear a postponed easing timeline.
“That was enough for this market to move forward,” Lerner said.
FedEx rose more than 7% after posting adjusted earnings that beat analyst estimates, while Nike sank 6.9% on disappointing guidance and slowing China sales. Lululemon slid 15.8% on weak guidance and slowing growth in North America, posting its worst day since March 2020.
The major indexes closed at record levels on Thursday for a second day, and hit all-time intraday highs. Thursday was the fourth straight winning session for the three indexes, with the Dow finishing close to the 40,000 level.
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